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Even if you didn’t know the name, the shot — and the mockery — was clear.
Dennis JenkinsA generously listed 6-foot-4 guard who didn’t sign a standard NBA contract with it Detroit Pistons By February, the lead had beaten Horn with a third-quarter 3-pointer to push the lead to 19 points. Sunday’s game is 7 against Orlando Magic.
It didn’t matter who was in his sights — random fans in the crowd, his teammates, assistant coaches — they all caught his face, feeling the emotion of the moment as the Pistons completed their comeback from a 3-1 deficit to win. First playoff series since 2008.
“There are two things about him,” a Pistons assistant coach told ESPN. “He works hard and he talks—“
But if Jenkins’ play and passion throughout this postseason is a collective “Who is this guy?” In response, it shouldn’t. The 24-year-old former G League call-up has been a key figure all season during Detroit’s rise to the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
In fact, the Pistons couldn’t have kept up without him.
While the highest scorer and MVP candidate Cade Cunningham Missing three weeks in March and April with a broken lung, Jenkins averaged 18.6 points and 7.6 assists on a 45% clip from 3 over the 12-game span. The Pistons went 9-3 and carried much of the offense with Jenkins, the franchise’s first No. 1 seed since 2007.
“The things I’m doing here, I’ve always been doing it,” Jenkins told ESPN after the drop 16 points and 14 assists An April 4 win Philadelphia 76ers That secured the best record in the conference.
“It wasn’t worth waiting until I got here (and) let them shine.”
The Dallas native was a journeyman collegian, leaving the University of the Pacific when coach Damon Stoudamire left to join Ime Udoka. Boston Celtics Staff in 2021. Jenkins led the Tigers in scoring as a sophomore.
He went the Zuko route, where his 15 points and 5.3 assist averages for Odessa College caught the eye of Rick Pitino at Iona. Jenkins repeated the production there, earning All-MAAC second-team honors. And when Pitino returned to the Big East, Jenkins followed him to St. John’s. There, he made the Big East second team.
None of that, not even the waves he made during the 2024 predraft workouts, resulted in a call in the second round. Jenkins cruised the G League’s Motor City, averaging 21 points and seven assists and making a handful of mop-up duty appearances for the big club. But when the Pistons started short guard depth for the 2025-26 season after Jaden Ivy’s foot injury, they brought up Jenkins — and quickly discovered just how ready he was for the moment.
“I was excited, I thought it was sweet.”
Charles Barkley heard “Danish” instead of Dennis Jenkins 😭 pic.twitter.com/glCdMaLKpO
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 3, 2026
“After I met him and I’ve known him for a year? That’s when I knew he wouldn’t have a problem fitting in,” the Piston wing said. Auser Thompsonwho first met Jenkins in 2024 when he played for Detroit’s summer league team. Thompson called Jenkins “super vocal, super competitive, and he was cold.”
“He’s going to be good on this team. One thousand percent. Everyone on this team knew it.”
Jenkins has become virtually indispensable to the Pistons’ pursuit of the franchise’s first Finals appearance since 2005, earning enough trust from Pistons coach JB Bickerstaff to carry the playmaking load while Cunningham sits and getting crucial fourth-quarter playoff minutes with the Pistons’ leader.
“I think it’s beneficial to not always have Cade as a guy that’s looking at five guys,” Bickerstaff told reporters after the Pistons clinched the top seed in the East.
“To start possessions, if you can corner him a little bit, you can rotate him a little bit, put them in the elbow, and then you’ve got (Jenkins) who can still initiate the offense and get the ball to him.”
Bickerstaff kept Cunningham and Jenkins on the floor to help close out Game 1 of the Eastern semifinals. Cleveland CavaliersWhere the guards immediately hit Cleveland’s guards after a late charge.
The unwavering confidence never wavered, and Jenkins credits his faith and the aforementioned work teammates and coaches have seen him put in.
“I’ve been in every room you can think of,” Jenkins said. “I’m an energy guy, a defensive guy. Good teammate.”
D loudly teammate
That certainly didn’t stop when rumors of a surprise breakout began to fizzle just after his contract was converted at the trade deadline, as if his appetite for a guaranteed contract was sated.
“That’s my whole life. I grew up in Texas, that’s my mentality,” Jenkins said of his edge, and the dialog cameras will often catch during games. Usually, the discussion he’s having is internal, with himself, Kevin Garnett-style.
“We can go into it, but for the most part I’m just talking to myself.”
The Pistons, meanwhile, spoke with their roster moves, trading Ivey before the deadline as a vote of confidence that Jenkins could handle the increased workload behind Cunningham. But between February 9 and March 13, Jenkins shot just 32% and averaged 5.9 points as he adjusted to a new role.
“Let’s go through (the struggles),” Jenkins said of the 15-game stretch. “And for me, I wasn’t going to walk away from anything that came with it, because I couldn’t. It was all people wanted to talk to me about, it was a great story.”
It didn’t take long for him to find his edge again. Since the run he’s helped orchestrate Cunningham’s injury absence, and after some struggles early in the first round, Jenkins looks like an ornery, confident player who shows up when the going gets tough.
He scored 16 points in Game 7 against Orlando and followed that up with 12 points and seven rebounds — including a big fourth-quarter offensive board over the former Defensive Player of the Year. Evan Mobley — Detroit’s Game 1 win over Cleveland.
“He’s gone through adversity every step of the way,” Thompson said. “He learned how to lead the team. And when he came up in the league, he wasn’t like, ‘I’m going to take a step sideways.’ …
“That’s why I’m so, so, so happy for him. He works his ass off.”
